Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

Because of Di Qing's death, the poem that Jiang Zhao sent to him was widely circulated again.

That poem is already a well-known masterpiece!

After passing the imperial examination with top honors, Jiang Zhao wrote a poem titled "Prodigy Poem," which is filled with memorable lines.

"Of all professions, only studying is noble."

"In the morning he was a peasant, in the evening he rose to the emperor's court."

"A timely rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land; the wedding night, the day of passing the imperial examination."

These are all lines that represent the pinnacle of literary talent, treasures revered by everyone.

The person who received the poem, Jiang Zhao's teacher Han Zhang, became incredibly famous because of it.

Furthermore, whether by coincidence or not, the people Jiang Zhao sent his poems to were all quite remarkable.

Fan Zhongyan was a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and Yan Shu was a former Prime Minister.

Di Qing, who was granted the title of Marquis of Wuxiang, was arguably the most formidable military general of the previous generation.

Han Zhang needs no further introduction. He was once a high-ranking official who experienced great ups and downs before rising again. He is only forty-nine years old now, and it is still unclear what his upper limit is.

These are all top-tier figures in officialdom, figures who have direct access to the emperor.

Now, Jiang Zhao actually has poems to give away?

Some people, upon seeing the poems, recited them aloud without even having time to appreciate them.

"Reading on a Winter Night to Show Sincerity!"

"The ancients spared no effort in their studies; what they learned in their youth bore fruit in their old age!"

"What you learn from books is never enough; you must put it into practice to truly understand!"

This is a poem that advocates the unity of knowledge and action, and that practice deepens understanding.

Of course, the interpretation of poetry often varies slightly depending on the person and the event.

The poem, presented to Sheng Changbai at this time, undoubtedly became a testament to the brother-in-law's earnest expectations that his brother-in-law should not just study hard but learn to put knowledge into practice.

"Changbai will soon become famous throughout the world!"

"Jiang Lang of Huaizuo, your reputation is well-deserved; you are truly a pragmatic man!"

"This is a masterpiece that will stand the test of time!"

Praise was endless.

Some praised Jiang Zhao, while others envied Sheng Changbai; the scholars were abuzz with discussion.

"Changbai is grateful for your instruction." Sheng Changbai put away the poem and bowed respectfully.

Jiang Zhao nodded.

"Brother-in-law, the poem to urge you to get ready for the wedding," Sheng Changfeng reminded him once again.

The so-called "bridal grooming poem" is a poem praising the bride during the wedding procession. The content is often to urge the bride not to be shy and to come out and get married quickly.

The purpose of this poem is to make young women in their boudoirs appear demure and reserved.

The fact that the woman arrived too late for the wedding procession, making hundreds of people wait for an extended period of time, makes her seem inconsiderate.

If a woman comes out too early, it makes her seem unreserved.

Once the poem urging a woman to get ready is recited, no matter how early she comes out, she will not lose her composure.

Generally speaking, it's difficult to write a good or bad poem for urging a bride to get married; it's almost always just a formality.

These poems have prescribed content, and there are almost no particularly outstanding ones.

Jiang Zhao laughed loudly, raised his head and said: "A golden hairpin is tucked into her cloud-like hair, a jade mirror is opened to reflect her phoenix curtains; I hear the sound of flutes and drums at the door, and I must hurry up before applying rouge!"

In short, it praises the woman's excellent appearance. While she is still dressing in front of the mirror, the wedding music has already started, breaking the tranquility of her boudoir, indicating that the auspicious time has arrived.

"Haha! Brother-in-law, please!" After receiving his brother-in-law's greeting, Sheng Changfeng immediately became sensible and strode forward to lead the way.

Jiang Zhao smiled and strode inside.

"Worship heaven and earth!"

"Two thanks to the high hall!"

"Couple greetings!"

"Send to the bridal chamber!"

The man in red and the woman in green—they make a very good match.

The sky was dark, and the candlelight flickered.

Jiang Zhao swayed left and right, seemingly drunk.

The moment he stepped into the bridal chamber, he straightened up immediately, and his steps stopped swaying.

Pretend to be drunk!

This is a unique feature of newlyweds.

With Gu Tingye, Chen Fu, and Zhang Ci stopping him from drinking and drinking on his behalf, Jiang Zhao actually drank less than three cups of wine.

Even if we disregard the small amount of alcohol, it would be difficult to get him drunk even with more.

In fact, Jiang Zhao's alcohol tolerance is quite good.

It's just that he doesn't usually drink a lot.

Entering the new house, Jiang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked towards his beloved.

Noticing the beauty's tense breathing, Jiang Zhao gently lifted the veil.

"My wife, let's drink the nuptial wine!"

Lights off.

"My wife, hold me tight!"

"Humph"

A beautiful woman of sixteen or seventeen, her body as soft as butter, a sword at her waist to slay mortals!

Although no heads are seen falling, they secretly drain your very marrow!

Chapter 34 Serving Tea!

At 1:15 AM, before dawn.

The brocade curtains hang low, the embroidered balls are gilded, and three lifelike paintings of "a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons" are connected by a love knot. In the corners are red dates, peanuts, longans and lotus seeds, which symbolize prosperous descendants and the early birth of a son.

This is the canopy bed for newlyweds.

"Humph--"

A barely audible humming sound rang out, and Sheng Hualan's eyelashes trembled slightly as she instinctively gathered the somewhat disheveled mandarin duck quilt.

After tucking the blankets in, the beauty quietly tilted her head to the side.

Newlyweds, Jiang Zhao gently wrapped one arm around her, making her feel very safe.

Looking up at the sky, Sheng Hualan reached out her fair hand and gently stroked her husband's chest: "Brother Zhao."

Halfway through her sentence, Sheng Hualan realized something, and her face flushed.

"Husband?"

A tentative call rang out, and Sheng Hualan, emboldened, called out softly again, "Husband!"

"Hmm?" Jiang Zhao woke up and rubbed his eyes.

"My lady, what's wrong?" Jiang Zhao asked, gently stroking the beauty's hair.

I have to admit, having a wife really makes a difference; even sleeping is much more comfortable now.

Sheng Hualan's cheeks flushed crimson, and she lowered her head slightly, not daring to look directly at her lover.

She pulled the blanket tighter around her, bit her lip lightly, and said softly, "It's already dawn, time to get up and go serve tea to my parents-in-law and pay my respects."

"Serve tea?" Jiang Zhao was taken aback.

The so-called tea ceremony is also known as the greeting to the parents-in-law, or the temple greeting, and is mainly for the bride.

Initially, this ritual was established so that the bride could express her filial piety to her parents-in-law and listen to their blessings and admonitions, so that she could be better accepted and integrate into her husband's family.

At the same time, this is also an important ceremony to establish the bride's status in her husband's family.

However, after thousands of years of evolution, it has long since changed its meaning and has become an opportunity for the mother-in-law to express her authority to the new bride.

Originally, the bride only needed to serve tea once.

But through evolution, the practice of offering tea has changed to serving tea, and now it has become a daily ritual!

Furthermore, one must serve tea at the hour of Mao (5 to 7 a.m.) to demonstrate filial piety and sincerity.

While serving tea, they often also had to attend to their mother-in-law's daily needs and be on call at all times.

If a new bride encounters a husband who is unworthy, unloved, powerless, and afraid to protect his wife, she might even leave before dawn and only rest at dusk.

As time goes on, if the wife is away from her own courtyard for extended periods, the husband will inevitably begin to favor his concubine.

He was oppressed by his mother-in-law for a long time, and his concubines were vying for his favor. He worked hard and suffered many setbacks, but his life was not even as comfortable as that of his concubines. The imbalance in his mindset could drive him crazy.

Using etiquette as a pretext to carry out acts of oppression.

The word "filial piety" has driven countless brides to their wits' end.

If you encounter a kind mother-in-law, serving tea for a year or two is often enough.

If you encounter a mother-in-law with a bad heart, you might have to serve tea for the rest of your life, and if you make a mistake even once, you will be beaten and punished.

The only chance to turn things around is to outlive the mother-in-law.

Once the mother-in-law outlives her, the new bride naturally becomes the mistress of the household.

and then?

Then, the dragon slayer becomes the dragon himself!

The reason is very simple.

After decades of hard work to finally turn things around, wouldn't it be a waste if he didn't put some pressure on his daughter-in-law?

Even worse, some women are not only mothers-in-law themselves, but also have mothers-in-law above them.

Women who serve their mothers-in-law during the day and torment their daughters-in-law at night are a common sight.

Generation after generation, things have basically gotten worse and worse.

Fortunately, Sheng Hualan did not have this concern.

She is Jiang Zhao's wife!

Not to mention that Jiang Zhao must be a strong-willed person who can protect his wife, objectively speaking, it is unlikely that Sheng Hualan would be abused by her mother-in-law.

Firstly, Jiang Zhao's mother was from the Hai family of Jiangning.

The Hai family of Jiangning had a clan rule: a woman's husband could not take a concubine until he was forty years old and had no children.

These conditions are quite demanding.

The conditions are harsh, but there are also corresponding advantages.

Firstly, the Hai family was a family of scholars who had served as Hanlin scholars for five generations, a family of upright officials.

The Hai family has produced high-ranking officials in the imperial court for generations. Once a man marries a woman from the Hai family, he can gain considerable political support. While his career may not be guaranteed to be smooth sailing, he will certainly have a powerful backer, which is quite extraordinary.

Secondly, the reputation of the Hai family women.

The Hai clan women themselves were certainly very clear about the advantages and disadvantages of the clan rules.

Due to clan rules, husbands were not allowed to take concubines; at most, they could keep some mistresses outside the family.

However, a mere concubine is beneath contempt, not even a mistress, and cannot even enter the inner quarters. How could she possibly compete for the emperor's favor with the principal wife?

The women of the Hai family held an almost unshakeable position within the inner quarters.

The disadvantages are also very obvious: the clan rules bring too many benefits!